Betty called late in the afternoon to report that Lloyd was doing all right, if not great. She told Emily that Lloyd was relieved to know that she was working on the paper and thought she could deal with it. She and Dave had gotten a pretty good handle on the paper, and it looked like they’d be able to wrap it up on schedule tomorrow. At nine that morning she would have never believed it. It would be a landmark issue, and to her it seemed to be turning out well. Thank goodness Janine and Chet had agreed to work extra hours to keep an eye on the Spee-D-Mart …

Emily was exhausted when she got home late in the evening. She’d been busy enough that she hadn’t really taken the time to think about what she’d heard of Dave and Shae’s phone conversation and his obscure remarks afterward, other than her initial reaction. She recalled that she thought there’d been something going on clear back at the end of September when she’d seen the two in that serious kiss in the parking lot of Shae’s apartment. Yet, it was pretty clear that neither of them had been aware that the other had been in New York before Emily called Eve and Shae to have them seek him out. The afternoon had been too busy to think about it much more than that.

Kevin was sitting in the living room by himself, watching TV. “Hi, hon,” he said as she walked into the house and just tossed her coat on a chair, rather than hanging it up. “You look frazzed.”

“Yeah, what a day,” she shook her head and collapsed into her chair. “Thank God I thought of calling Dave. For a guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing, he sure knows what to do.”

“Have you had supper?” he said. “I could get you something, maybe get you a drink.”

“I called down to the store and had Lynnette do a couple frozen pizzas in the microwave. She had Fred Sorenson drop them off on his way past. Other than that, we’ve been running on straight caffeine. I could stand a sandwich and something mild to drink, like maybe a screwdriver.”

“Kayla made a casserole and there’s some left over. I could warm it in the microwave.”

“She did? Good kid! I had her watching Dave’s kids for a while after school.”

“I know,” he smiled, turning the TV to mute and starting to get up. “They were here when I got here, so I ran them over to JoAnne’s. When I got back, she had the casserole under way.”

“I think our kid is growing up,” she smiled.

“I think so too. Let me go get you that drink and get the casserole warming, then I’ve got something to tell you. Nothing bad, just interesting,” he said, heading for the kitchen.

Emily knew she ought to get up and go tell Kayla thanks for watching Dave’s boys and then getting supper, but just at that instant the chair felt too good. She must be in her room, she thought, but it wasn’t bedtime yet. It could wait a few minutes. She just sat there, staring at the silent figures on the TV, running parts of the day through her mind. She probably wasn’t through having to deal with the paper, she realized. If Lloyd was still in intensive care, there was no way he would be getting the paper out next week. At least she’d have a chance to get organized first, know it was coming …

Kevin was back in a few minutes, carrying a screwdriver and a plate of the casserole, which she suspected must be Hamburger Helper. Whatever it was, it looked good enough to eat. She took a big gulp of the drink – Kevin hadn’t mixed it mild, which was good, she needed it more than she thought – then picked up a fork and started in on the plate. “Our little girl is definitely growing up,” he grinned as he sat down in his chair again. “About an hour ago I had to use the bathroom. Well, I heard the hair dryer shut off, so I figured she’d be out soon, so I headed back there. I was just getting to the bathroom when the door opened, and there was Kayla, standing there stark naked.”

Emily had to smile at the thought. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear the scream down at the Courier.”

“No scream,” Kevin smiled. “She just said, ‘Oh, hi, Dad. I didn’t know you were waiting,’ and then walked right past me to her room. No duck and cover or anything. Very casual, like she was dressed for school or something. And yes, she is growing up. Hell, I was the one embarrassed.”

Emily just shook her head. “Maybe that’ll teach her to be more careful next time. Good grief, if my dad had caught me like that at her age I’d still be freaked out.”

“I know,” Kevin grinned. “I surprised one of my sisters like that once and caught hell about it for weeks. And hell, she was the one who opened the door, not me. Kids must be different nowadays.”

“I don’t know,” Emily sighed. “She’s at an age when her body is changing fast, and the way she feels about it changes pretty fast, too. Maybe it just means that she’s comfortable with her body. A lot of kids at that age aren’t. I know I wasn’t. Marcia Halloran told me last fall that a lot of kids her age are very shy about getting undressed to shower after gym, and if anything it’s worse today than it was when I was her age. But Marcia said that Kayla didn’t seem to have any problem with it.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess,” he nodded.

“I think so,” Emily agreed, though not really thinking about it. “I think we’ve got a pretty level-headed kid compared to some that age I know about.”

The plate of food tasted adequate – barely re-warmed Hamburger Helper isn’t exactly nectar of the gods – and the drink helped Emily get her jangled nerves under control. “I’m beat,” she announced when both were finished. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Tomorrow will be another tough one.”

If anything, the plate of food and the drink and the winding down had made her even more tired. That was good, she thought; she’d get to sleep more quickly. As she walked down the hall she happened to notice Kayla’s door standing open about a third of the way. She still wanted to thank her daughter, so she tapped on the door lightly and stuck her head into the room to see Kayla laying belly-down on her bed, stark naked, intently studying what appeared to be a schoolbook. Two and two went together; she let out a smile. “Hey, Kayla,” she grinned, masking a memory. “I just wanted to thank you for watching Dave’s kids this afternoon, then making dinner without being asked.”

“No problem, Mom,” Kayla said, turning her head to smile at her. “I knew you were having a tough day.”

“Don’t think it isn’t appreciated,” she replied. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. You sleep tight.”

“Sure, Mom,” Kayla said. “See you in the morning. Or are you leaving early?”

“I’ll probably be gone when you get up, I’ve got to check in at the store before I head down to the Courier.”

“Then you’re the one who better sleep tight,” Kayla laughed. “Let me know if you need me to watch Tyler and Cameron again.”

“Sure, no problem,” Emily grinned, and headed on down to the master bedroom. That settled the question in the back of her mind why so few of Kayla’s nightshirts had been coming through the wash. The kid was going through a phase of sleeping in the nude! Emily smiled to herself. She’d gone through a couple phases of that, one when she was a young teen, and the other right after she and Kevin were married. The second one had lasted longer and was considerably more fun, but it had ended as the kids got older.

And if I weren’t so tired I’d be tempted to do it tonight, she thought, remembering some of those nights …

That went really, really well, Kayla thought as she heard her mother walk away. First Dad doesn’t say a thing, and now Mom gets a good look and doesn’t even say anything about my being nude, much less give me a lecture!

She hadn’t planned the specific incidents, but knew something like that was bound to happen sooner or later and figured it would be best if it seemed as accidental as it really was. She had been a bit surprised to find her dad out in the hallway, but she’d made up her mind that she wasn’t going to let herself show any shock or embarrassment if he happened to find her like that. As far as she could tell, she hadn’t; it was like it happened every day. Mom’s coming to her room hadn’t been unexpected, but the lack of comment was.

She remembered some of the stories that some kids had told on the Allison’s Sanctuary forum of being caught in circumstances like that, unplanned, and catching hell for walking in the hall or lying around naked in their rooms. And she didn’t even get a comment! That meant there was a lot of hope.

She didn’t think that she was quite ready to come out to her folks yet, but she was well on the way. It’d be best to be caught a few more times like that to prepare the way even better. She’d have to arrange for JJ to catch her some time too, just so he wouldn’t be in a position to make some kind of silly protest that could mess things up. When the time came, the surprise had to be as small as possible, not a big one.

No point in doing it too soon, she thought. I might as well wait until warm weather gets a bit closer, so I’ll be in a better position to take advantage of it.

But still, she could hardly wait to get on the forum and post a note about this big success, maybe send a personal message to Airclad, who was becoming an anonymous friend. While she still had no idea of who or where Airclad was, it was pretty clear now that she was a girl, and at about the same phase with her parents. The last time she’d been on, she’d sent her a personal message wishing her luck, and announcing that she was trying pretty much the same thing with her folks. She couldn’t help but wonder how that was going. It was a pain to only get on the forum rarely, since there were some discussions that she’d liked to have participated in. It wouldn’t be tomorrow, since it was just about sure that she’d have to babysit the Patterson kids again. But maybe later in the week …

She really wished she could share this success with someone face to face, but realized it wasn’t a smart idea. It would be really, really stupid to tell Megan about it, for instance. She’d flip out! And then, she’d spread it all over the school. It’d be really fun to have a friend who she could go nude with, talk about being nude with, the sort of relationship she had with Andrea, who probably wasn’t going to be around much this summer. Rachel might be a possibility, she thought, since she went to Amherst, rather than Bradford, so it wouldn’t be as big a gossip thing, but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to bring it up to her, at least not yet. Maybe this summer they could go out running somewhere and she could suggest a skinny-dip or something, just to break the ice. Rachel was becoming a good friend. Not only could they go running together – none of her other really close friends were into it, at least not like she was – but sharing a confidence with Rachel wasn’t likely to become a gossip item throughout the school.

She’d have to remember to check the weather report tomorrow night, she thought. Maybe if it was going to be halfway nice this weekend she could get together with Rachel, and they could go running or hang out or something.

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